While walking near the Blommer Chocolate Factory at Milwaukee and Kinzie, I saw, firsthand, with my own eyes, a collision between a cyclist and a driver. Luckily the cyclist was all right.

The cyclist’s poor choices led to the collision, so let us use this example learn from her mistakes.

Cyclist was riding down Milwaukee, heading onto Kinzie. She skipped through a red light and squeezed in front of a bus stopped on Desplaines while it waited to turn left. Cyclist thought she had an all-clear route, but her view behind the bus was obscured.

Blocked from her view was a car was traveling 30 mph right into her path – and the driver couldn’t see a cyclist headed into her own path. The driver slammed her brakes and slowed the car enough that she only hit the cyclist’s rear wheel.

Confusing? Well, look at the diagram.

This was neither the time nor the place to run a red light! Defensive riding: a good idea, especially when dealing with the dangerous diagonal intersections of Milwaukee Avenue.